


Rise

by makkachinn



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - The Walking Dead Fusion, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Violence, Character Development, M/M, Minor Character Death, Thriller, Walkers (Walking Dead), Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 12:40:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4625667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makkachinn/pseuds/makkachinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Left to die after a fatal accident that kills nearly everyone on the bus, 20-year-old Tooru Mutsuki wakes up to find that though only a week has passed since the first sign of outbreak, the mysterious virus DX-615 has destroyed not only the nation but also the entire world, sparing less than 10% of the earth's population. Starving, dehydrated, and injured, Mutsuki is saved by a stranger named Urie, a police academy graduate who becomes an unlikely companion. So far Mutsuki has been lucky enough to survive but in a world now filled with flesh-eating creatures, hostile survivors, and death at every corner, luck doesn't always last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. DX-615

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've been wanting to write a Zombie Apocalypse AU for Tokyo Ghoul for a while but now I've finally done it! Before I start, I would like to point out 2 things:
> 
> 1\. Keep in mind that since it is an apocalypse, violence and gore are inevitable.  
> 2\. The setting takes place in America during the year 2018, and there has been a significant increase in Japanese immigrants for the past 15 years due to a secret government project. 
> 
> That is all. Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy!

It was a nice, breezy morning in Dallas, Texas.

7:29 AM was the time.

As usual, 20-year-old Tooru Mutsuki was waiting at the metro bus station for his ride. For some reason though, he felt oddly confident in himself today. In less than two hours he would be in class taking a major biology exam, and he had studied for it vigorously for the past two week so he knew that there was no way he could achieve anything less than an A. Today was going to be great. He was going to ace this test, ace this class, get a high GPA for his third year of college, score extremely well for the TEAS, apply for nursing school, and--

At that moment the bus arrived, breaking Mutsuki out of his train of thought.

 _Ah, I was babbling again,_ he realized.

The bus sputtered to a stop and when the doors slid open, the 20 year old boarded the transit. He walked down the aisle and slid into his usual seat in the back of the bus beside a familiar young, black-haired woman who was concentrated on the newspaper in her hands.

“Good morning Tagata-san,” he greeted politely.

The woman glanced up from reading and nodded in response. “Hello Mutsuki,” she replied. “You look quite cheerful today.”

“I have a biology exam today but I've been studying really hard so I feel good about this.”

“That's good to hear. Well I'm sure you'll do great.”

Hearing this, Mutsuki smiled. He still remembered the first day he met Tagata; it had been the first day of his freshman year. He had felt lost since it was his first time riding the metro, but he had been even more anxious because it was the start of his university days and everything seemed so foreign. Tagata, who had been sitting beside him at the time, noticed his nervousness and offered him encouraging words, and since then they have been close, speaking to each other every morning for the past three years. He appreciated her – he really did – because it wasn't like he had many friends to begin with due to his timid nature.

Just as Mutsuki was about to open his mouth to thank her, a chorus of approaching sirens cut him off. Tagata raised her head at this as well and together, the two glanced out the window in time to see a line of emergency vehicles gaining on the bus, sirens piercing the air with their screams. The whole bus burst out in whispers as the vehicle moved to the side of the street and slowed to a stop, allowing the three ambulances, five police cars, and two fire trucks to rush past.

Beside Mutsuki, Tagata furrowed her eyebrows together. “It's getting worse,” she stated.

A chill crawled down Mutsuki's spine. Immediately he knew what she was talking about.

The DX-615 Virus.

Almost as if she had read his mind, Tagata frowned. “A virus that deteriorates the brain after the host comes into contact with an infected,” she described as if directly reciting from an article. “Only six days have passed since the first official case was announced to the public but thousands of people have already hospitalized. Even Jefferson Memorial is full of patients from D6 – I believe the news said 200 as of last night.”

Mutsuki replayed Tagata's words in his mind.

Jefferson Memorial Hospital, the largest hospital in Dallas, the fifth largest in the _nation,_ had already admitted nearly 200 patients with similar cases of the D6 Virus as of last night.

And JMH… JMH… was right in the vicinity of his university.

Mutsuki shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The confidence he had exuded earlier was now gone, instead replaced with anxiety.

“They say it's like a zombie virus,” he said, doing his best to prevent his breath from shaking. “They… they say that the people with D6 die within three days and resurrect.”

Tagata remained unfazed by this. “Zombie virus, they say? The first patient already died but nothing has been announced that they 'resurrected'.”

“They say that the government is keeping it a secret to prevent mass chaos. There's also been rumors that they discovered D6 a decade ago and that they had a project to contain and experiment with it, which is why they started recruiting thousands of Japanese scientists... but… but I don't know. Would they really keep it a secret? I-I mean, if the situation escalates, things will be even worse because we don't know the truth.”

“Well think about it Mutsuki; even in the case that the dead does resurrect, if the hospitals have already kept it secret for this long, it means that they are able to handle everything.”

“But doesn't it worry you?”

“Should it?”

“You work downtown where Jefferson Memorial is. Maybe… Maybe you should leave the city too...”

“Even if I did, where would I go?”

“Well--”

“There are road blocks everywhere and the exits are all stalled. If I try to leave now, who knows how long it'll take until I'm finally out of Dallas? Everyone's also panicking and trying to get out as fast as they can so there's been accidents everywh--”

At that moment, the traffic light where the bus was waiting turned green. The vehicle began to accelerate but suddenly a car perpendicular to their street cut the red light at nearly sixty-five miles per hour. Thankfully though the bus driver slammed on the brakes just in time. Mutsuki felt his body jerk forward but fortunately his seat belt held him back. Shocked gasps resonated throughout the bus and in the front, the driver yelled out curse words at the violator before addressing the riders.

“Sorry about that folks!” he piped up. “Some people just do not know how to drive!”

As Mutsuki tried to calm his racing heart, Tagata shot an icy glare in the direction of the car that now had disappeared down the street. “Leave the city if you will but at least drive like a decent human being. This is getting too out of hand.”

Mutsuki winced at the slight pain in his abdomen caused by the seat belt but could not hide the worry on his features. He tried to speak but his throat felt dry so he reached back and grabbed a bottle of water from his bag, taking a long swig before returning it into its proper place.

“W-What do you think he was driving away from?” he finally spoke again.

“Who knows? Perhaps he just robbed a store and he's making his escape route.”

"Ah... are you joking?"

"Am I?"

Suddenly Mutsuki felt his pocket vibrate and scream to life, and he immediately knew it was some type of alert on his phone because the same alarm went off for over half of the bus. Confused, the 20 year old slipped out his phone and when read the screen, his eyes widened in fear and disbelief.

 

 

**EMERGENCY:**

EXTREME THREAT. DO NOT ENTER CITY. STAY IN AND REINFORCE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY

 

 

“W-What is this?” he stammered. But before he could receive a reply, his screen lit up once more with an incoming call notification and a picture of his mother. His hand trembled but somehow he managed to press the 'accept call' button before holding his phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Tooru, where are you? Are you alright?”

“Yes, what's wr--”

“Thank goodness you're okay. Listen to me, Tooru,  you need to come home right now!”

“W-Wait what's going o--”

“The news, Tooru -- do _not_ go into the city!”

“You're talking too fast--”

“The D6 victims at Jefferson Memorial have just broken out a-and they're not n-normal. They're attacking people and, a-and they're eating them and they're _not human_ Tooru! Stay _away from_ \--”

The last part was cut off as the phone slipped out of Mutsuki's hands and fell to the floor. No. The D6 victims at Jefferson Memorial have broken out...? And... And they're attacking and eating people...?

_No._

His terrified eyes fell on the driver.

_No no no._

Shock morphed into fear.

_This..._

Around him, others began to stand up and shout out for the driver to turn around from downtown.

_This is..._

The bus approached a red light and gradually came to a stop. The driver spun around in his seat to look at the passengers with a confused look.

_This can't be happening…_

“T-Turn back? Don't go into the city? Why--”

_None of this can be real._

The light turned green.

_None of this can--_

The moment the driver pressed on the gas pedal and the vehicle jerked forward, a screeching horn pierced through the air as a pick-up truck raced down the street. Horror drowned Mutsuki's eyes and he opened his mouth but no words ever escaped as the truck ran the red light and rammed into the front of the metro bus with unspeakable force. The next few seconds were a blur.

Screams.

Cries.

Blood.

Mutsuki felt his lungs being ripped out of his body as the bus overturned once… twice… three times, tumbling and flipping and screeching before plowing into two cars with a mighty roar.

_It hurts..._

Mutsuki did not know when the chaos ended or when the bus stopped moving but when it finally did, all he was left with was a shrill ringing in his ears. Screams sounded in the background but they were distant and he couldn't make out whether they were male or female, child or adult, human or animal. His vision blurred and his eyes burned as a strange red liquid rolled down his face and into his line of sight.

_Blood…_

_So much blood…_

All he could see was red.

 _Ah... so this is how it ends then…_ A weak smile slipped onto his lips and his eyelids drooped as he no longer had the energy to stay conscious much longer. 

Blood...

_So... much... blood..._

And then slowly, everything faded to black.


	2. Awakened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urie does in fact appear in this chapter. Thank you for your patience and please enjoy!

_Ah…_

Mutsuki stirred.

_Where... am I…?_

Everywhere hurt. His head throbbed, his eyes stung, his throat burned, and his entire body ached terribly. Groaning, Mutsuki exhaled sharply and turned his head, eyes fluttering open gently. Light from above flooded his vision and he moaned in complaint, immediately shutting himself back into the darkness. As he laid there in silence and seconds and minutes passed, his memory began to return.

 _That's right…_ he recalled. _The truck… it hit the bus…_

_Am I at the hospital…?_

Slowly but surely his senses were beginning to come back. Because the tingling sensation in his eyes – particularly his right eye – still remained, he kept them closed and focused on his ears.

 _... The ringing from before is gone,_ he noted.

Although he concentrated on his surroundings, all he could hear were the sound of his own harsh breaths and the tone of a disconnected cellphone line beeping in the background. His nose wiggled as a strange odor registered in his brain.

_Smoke? And… And is that--_

Then it all clicked.

A sharp gasp escaped Mutsuki's lips as his eyes flew open, and what he saw would forever be engraved in his memory.

Dead.

Everyone was dead.

The bus was flipped over onto its side. Blood was splattered everywhere – on his shirt, on his body, on the cracked windows, on the soaked chairs. Bodies dangled from the seats above, one even threatening to fall onto his thin frame but fortunately was held back by a seat belt. Others were scattered throughout the vehicle. Mutsuki's breath hitched at the image of passengers screaming and flailing and flung around like rag dolls from the incredible force of collision. His nostrils flared and his stomach turned. Thankfully he had worn a seat belt or else he--

No. He couldn't even imagine what would have happened if he hadn't.

From his position, he realized that his side of the bus was closer to the ground, and that the other side was faced upwards towards the gloomy gray clouds above.

_Is it about to rain?_

He had to get out… but speaking of rain…

The 20 year old's throat itched. Water. He needed water.

Mutsuki extended his hand to reach behind for his backpack and nearly sighed in relief when he found his grip onto a water bottle. As he chugged the water down greedily, two questions bothered him:

Why did his water bottle seem less full than it was before the accident?

And why was it so quiet?

Surely the ambulance would be here by now, or at the very least on their way. Where were the sirens? Where were the other civilians? Shouldn't they be helping? Unless--

 _That's right,_ he remembered. _The D6 victims broke out of Jefferson Memorial. All the emergency services should be handling that right now._

He flashed back to minutes before the accident, about what his mother had warned him about the D6 patients apparently attacking and eating people.

_Like zombies?_

What was going on?

By now the water bottle was empty. Just as he was about to return it to its place, the plastic slipped out of his hand and fell, clattering against the window beneath him on his right. On instinct he turned his head and leaned down, and that was when he realized something was cushioning his body.

“Tagata…san?”

When the woman remained unmoving, a wave of panic rippled throughout his body and a sob escaped his lips as he reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“N-No no no no--”

Mutsuki's breath hitched when his eyes laid sight on the trails of dried blood that streaked down her forehead, down her eyes, cheeks, and neck until he finally realized what had caused her death: a shard of crimson glass piercing her shoulder. Mutsuki whimpered but when he tried to turn his head away from the brutal scene, his eyes caught sight of her arms. Fragments of sharp glass jutted out along the outer face of her arms, decorated with pools of blood that streamed down her hands and clothes.

Mutsuki bit back the tears as he tore his eyes from his friend.

Tagata was gone, just like everybody else.

He had to get out.

By now all his senses had cleared and the stench of dead flesh reeked, making him nauseous. Mutsuki wiped away the tears before looking down at his waist and taking his hand to feel around for the seat buckle. When he found it, he pressed the button and allowed the seat belt to retract, all the while making sure he did not fall out of his seat. Since his side of the bus was in contact with the ground, Mutsuki shifted and maneuvered his body until he could stand on the shattered bits and pieces of glass below.

Now how could he get out?

Mutsuki took a step forward towards the front of the bus but recoiled when he realized that the windshield was blocked by an overturned gray car. Next the twenty year old checked for the front and side doors but they were both obstructed by the ground, so that left him with one last option: the windows. And since the bus had been full before the accident, that meant that he was going to need to--

Mutsuki cringed.

– touch the dead bodies.

_L-Let's just… Let's just get this over with._

Hoping to alleviate the situation even by an inch, the college student wandered over to a less dense area where only one person was obstructing the window. With a sigh and a mumble of apology, he unbuckled their seat belt and caught the body of the female high school student before setting her down gently, shaking as he did so. She was so young, had a whole life ahead of her. Mutsuki closed his eyes and muttered a small prayer before looking back up.

The window above him covered half of the side of the bus and thankfully was already broken in the upper right-hand corner. Mutsuki glanced around to look for something to finish the deed, and a briefcase lying a few feet away caught his attention. He wasted no time to retrieve it and once it was in his hands, he swung it upwards with all his might. The remaining portion of the window cracked and with another hit, it shattered. Fortunately Mutsuki had anticipated this andbacked away from the rain of glass, and once all the shards fell, he stepped forward and raised his arms so that his hands gripped the edge of the window. Then, with all the strength he could muster, Mutsuki pushed himself upward and heaved his legs to the top.

The minute his entire body was up, he took in a large huff of air, gasping as fresh oxygen flooded his lungs.

Then Mutsuki's eyes laid on the wasteland around him.

Abandoned cars littered the streets, some upright, some overturned, some completely wrecked as if a fire truck or even quite possibly an 18-wheeler had rammed into them with the force of a typhoon. Nearby a CVS appeared as if it had been ransacked by the way its windows were smashed in, and somewhere in the distance streams of smoke blackened the gray skies above.

_And… I-is that an a-arm?_

The tingling sensation in his right eye caused Mutsuki to massage it lightly, but his sight never left the severed arm that laid undisturbed beside the pile of cars on the other side of the intersection.

What was going on?

Where was everyone?

Mutsuki ignored the slight pressure in his eye and instead scanned the streets looking for any sign of life, but aside from the light wind that brushed against his cheeks, nothing stirred.

Until something in the distance caught his attention.

A block away, two figures staggered in the opposite direction of Mutsuki, their backs facing him.

Wait.

Staggering?

Were they hurt? Were they in the same accident as him? Or was it another accident?

In a fury of movements, Mutsuki slid to the edge of the bus and jumped off, landing several feet below with a slight 'unf'. He then took a step forward but suddenly halted, a thought having stricken him.

_Wait… but th-they're men._

That was right. Judging by their clothes and stature, they were definitely males.

_Can I trust them? Sh-Should I go?_

Dark memories from the past began to surface. A chill snaked down his spine and caused him to shutter but Mutsuki shook his head and forced the painful memories away.

_I have to – there's not another sign of life anywhere else. Come on Tooru, you can do it. It's been four years and he's in prison now. Not every man in the world is bad. Y-You have to stop being paranoid._

With that, he made up his mind and dashed forward.

The wind whipped past his face as he sprinted down the street, past the deserted cars, past the fallen street light, past the small gas station on the next corner with its doors and windows destroyed.

As the distance between Mutsuki and the two figures lessened, he began to notice their movements in clearer detail. Just as he had noticed earlier from the top of the bus, they were limping, gait slow and unbalanced and bodies leaning unevenly to the side. Their necks seemed to roll to the side way too far to be comfortable, and each step they took looked jerky and even painful as if they had splintered a bone in their leg.

It must have been one incredible accident they had been in.

By now Mutsuki had caught up. He was standing five yards behind them, tense and uncomfortable about what he was going to do, but finally he called out with a hoarse voice.

“Excuse m-me,” he stammered, hoping that they heard him. “Um, c-could you please help me?”

Instantaneously the two figures froze. A sigh escaped Mutsuki's lips for he was relieved that they had heard him, but the second they turned around and his eyes laid sight on their hideously decayed faces, his stomach turned and fear engulfed him.

“W-What?” he breathed.

They were not human.

Ripped clothes soaked in dried, crusted blood hung off their rotted bodies, and their dead flesh emitted an unbearable odor that burned Mutsuki's lungs. The men – no, creatures – were bloody and battered, and their pupils… their pupils glowed a sickening gray, as if life had been completely sucked out from their souls.

Mutsuki stumbled backwards when the creatures growled, bearing their jagged yellow teeth.

“No, p-please,” he whimpered, but his pleas were futile for they began to trudge forward, dragging their feet against the concrete as they reached out their arms in attempt to tear at his body. In the depths of Mutsuki's mind, the familiar voice of his mother cried out.

_They're not human Tooru!_

Something within Mutsuki snapped and suddenly a surge of adrenaline flooded his system. In a flash, he whirled around and bolted, past the small gas station at the next corner with its doors and windows destroyed, past the fallen street light, past the deserted cars, past the intersection of the destroyed bus and the severed arm and the forgotten backpack and down and down and down the street until finally the last of his energy forced him to stop at a parking lot in front of a gated townhouse complex three blocks away from the bus wreckage.

Mutsuki's hands found their ways to his knees as he gasped for air and collapsed beside a large red pick-up truck parked in the lot outside the gates.

_A-Am I safe yet?_

Still panting heavily, the twenty year old lifted his head to scan the scene. When Mutsuki did not see any movement nor the two creatures, his shoulders relaxed on instinct and he placed his arms on the concrete beside him as support as he leaned back against the truck.

Big mistake.

A snarl echoed through the air as a hand suddenly shot out and grasped onto Mutsuki's forearm, causing him to yell out. He propelled himself forward and tried to yank himself free but instead of getting rid of the hand, his momentum pulled the source of the hand out from under the truck: a creature decayed and reeking of death. Mutsuki screamed as he raised a foot and unrelentingly stomped onto the creature's face but it just let go of his arm and grabbed on his ankle instead, growling like a beast and opening its jaws to reveal sharp teeth before it dove down and--

At that moment, a suppressed gunshot rippled throughout the parking lot. A small silver dot glinted in the light as it sliced the air and pierced the creature's scalp, causing its ear and brain to explode in a shower of black matter and blood that splattered the bottom of Mutsuki's pants. Mutsuki felt the grip on ankle loosen and, gasping, he kicked it away before scrambling backwards until he was at a safe distance from the now unmoving carcass.

“Th-Thank you so m--”

Mutsuki turned his head to look at his savior but was cut off mid-sentence when his face met the silenced barrel of a Glock 22 pistol and its owner, a tall black-haired young male staring down at him with cold, dark eyes.

“Why are you here?” he demanded.

Mutsuki flinched but froze when the stranger aimed right at the former's forehead.

“I-I wasn't,” Mutsuki stammered, “I m-mean I was chased b-by those things, a-and--”

“You're infected, aren't you?”

“In...fected?”

The stranger gestured towards Mutsuki's right eye. “Your eye,” he stated.

Confused, Mutsuki raised a hand to his face. “My eye?”

“There's blood. Were you bit?”

“Bit?”

“Just as I thought – you're infected.”

The stranger narrowed his eyes and tightened his gloved grip on his pistol, causing Mutsuki to flinch once more.

“I-I don't know what you're talking about!” he blurted out. “I was in a car accident a-and I woke up ten minutes ago and I-I don't understand what's going on.”

“You're lying.”

“I'm not lying! A few blocks down, there's an overturned metro bus! I was part of the crash!”

“I checked it yesterday. Everyone was dead.”

“Everyone but me! P-Please believe me, I really _really_ don't understand what's happening.”

A long silence filled the air as the mysterious figure analyzed Mutsuki, eyes so emotionless that Mutsuki could almost feel them peering into his soul. As the seconds dragged on, Mutsuki felt his muscles tense was so hard and his breath so shallow that it felt like he was suffocating. Finally, the stranger spoke.

“What were you before this?”

The question caught Mutsuki off guard. _Before this? Before what?_ But he knew better than to ask for clarification. “A pre-nursing student, third year.”

“Any medical knowledge?”

“My mom is a nurse and my dad, h-he's a PA. A-And I volunteer at an ER.”

“Are you lying?”

“No.”

Another round of silence, but this time, Mutsuki held the other's gaze. Finally, the stranger clicked his tongue. “What's your name?” he asked.

“Um, Tooru Mutsuki.”

“Mutsuki, huh. Fine, I'll let you come in, but…” The stranger flicked his pistol. “Try anything funny and I'll kill you... understood?”

Beads of sweat dripped down the back of Mutsuki's neck as his eyes landed on the gloved hand that had its finger on the trigger.

“U-Understood,” he agreed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this is one of the longest chapters I have ever written. It's 2,574 words meaning it's about 50% longer than the first update, and a lot happened in my opinion (ahem, Mutsurie's first encounter). More explanations will come in the third chapter so stay tuned and feel free to leave a comment, a subscription, and/or a kudos! Thank you so much for reading and for supporting Rise! Stay safe everyone!


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